About Me

MIKE

Lansing, MI, United States

NASCAR. Became a Ryan Newman fan when I became a NASCAR fan. Have not been a NASCAR fan for long (5 years) but now I am one of the biggest fans of NASCAR and Ryan Newman.
Became fan when I started working for ALLTEL. Discovered they had a NASCAR driver....Ryan Newman. I started watching and got totally sucked in.
I have always enjoyed Motorsports, but have never really been hooked like this.
I am also VERY fortunate that my fiance Jeni is also a NASCAR fan. Have even recently caught her on the phone discussing NASCAR with her Mom.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

The Following is an update from Jayski.com. McCaulley will be taking over the crew chief position for the #12 Alltel Dodge.

McCually was Kurt Busch's Crew Chief for the 2006 season and the beginning of the 2007 season. He had to take a leave of abscence in April of 2007 to care for his wife who is battling leukemia. I don't know what his wife's status is.

Ryan Newman and Roy McCaulley have worked together before. McCaulley was Newman's Busch series Crew Chief in 2006 when Newman won 6 out of nine of the Busch Series races that he competed in.

That alone gives me a little better feeling about the 2008 season with a new crew chief. Forget the wins, just the fact that they have worked together before. Then fact that they had great success is a huge plus.

McCaulley's bio is below in the Penske write up.

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THE FOLLOWING IS FROM PENSKE RACING.COM ON OCTOBER 2ND.

Roy McCauley is making a comeback as a crew chief, heading up Sam Hornish Jr.'s effort in the No. 06 Penske Truck Rental Dodge.

McCauley, who was previously the Miller Lite team¿s crew chief, became chief engineer of Penske Racing's NASCAR operation in December 2002. He also served as the crew chief for the organization's driver development team. In 2004, he oversaw the team that fielded a NEXTEL Cup car in four races one for Chad Blount and three for Travis Kvapil. In 2005, McCauley directed the Busch Series team that won six of the nine races in which it competed with driver Ryan Newman. He also was the crew chief for Kvapil's ARCA victory at Pocono.

McCauley says it was competition that attracted him to racing.

We could race shopping carts and I would still be a part of it, says McCauley, who was born March 10, 1970.

Even though McCauley didn't work in racing until he was an adult, his family was involved in the sport from the time he was an infant. McCauley¿s father, Kirk, raced in Late Model Sportsman and Late Model Stock events at short tracks in Maryland and Virginia in the late 1960s and early 70s. He then leased and operated the speedway in Beltsville, Md., from the mid to late 1970s.

McCauley graduated from the University of Maryland in 1992 with a degree in mechanical engineering. He entered racing in 1993 in the open-wheel ranks as a design engineer with Pat Patrick Racing. McCauley remained with the Indianapolis-based team for four years before moving to PacWest in 1998.

McCauley left PacWest and moved to PPI Motorsports as the race engineer in 2000 when PPI owner Cal Wells began fielding a team in NASCAR's Cup division.

Two years later McCauley joined Penske Racing's NASCAR operation as its head engineer. While serving in that capacity, McCauley oversaw a 17-person department that included 11 engineers, and was responsible for all of the operation's design work, aerodynamic and chassis development, component design, and simulation development.

McCauley and wife Amy reside in Sherrills Ford, N.C.

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THE FOLLOWING IS FROM JAYSKI.COM ON 11/17/07

UPDATE: been told that Mike Nelson will be in the front office overseeing the Cup side of the business and Roy McCaulley will be Ryan Newman's crew chief, and Matt Gimbel will be the interim crew chief for #77 Sam Horish Jr. until a permanent crew chief is chosen, then he will be the race engineer for #77 team. Also, been told that Penske Racing's Don Miller will retire.(11-27-2007)